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[Page 229][Page 230][Page 231]
The POWER of BEAUTY.
1 O GODDESS of eternal Smiles,
2 Bright Cythera the fair,
3 Who taught Sabina's pleasing Wiles,
4 By which she won Bellair.
5 Bellair, the witty and the vain,
6 Who laugh'd at Beauty's Pow'r;
7 But now the conquer'd humble Swain
8 Adores a painted Flow'r.
9 With Delia's Art my Song inspire,
10 Whose Lips of rosy Hue
11 Can ne'er the partial Audience tire,
12 Tho' wiser Claudia's do.
13 Tho' Claudia's Wit and Sense refin'd,
14 Flows easy from her Tongue;
15 Her Soul but coarsly is enshrin'd,
16 So Claudia's in the wrong.
17 Hark, Delia speaks — that blooming Fair,
18 See Crowds are gathering round
19 With open Mouths: and wildly stare
20 To catch the empty Sound.
21 See Lelia with a Judgment clear,
22 With manly Wisdom blest;
23 Wit, Learning, Prudence, all appear
24 In that unruffled Breast.
25 But yet no Beau for Lelia dies,
26 No Sonnets pave her way;
27 Say, Muse, from whence these Evils rise,
28 Why Lelia's Teeth decay.
29 Then, why do rev'rend Sages rail
30 At Woman's wanton Pride?
31 If Wisdom, Wit, and Prudence fail,
32 Let meaner Arts be try'd.
33 Those Arts to please are only meant;
34 But with an angry Frown,
35 The Queen of Wisdom lately sent
36 This Proclamation down:
37 Minerva, with the azure Eyes,
38 And thus the Statute runs,
39 If you wou'd have your Daughters wise,
40 Take care to mend your Sons.
About this text
Author: Mary Leapor
Themes:
sex; relations between the sexes; women; female character; beauty
Genres:
address
References:
DMI 23751
Text view / Document view
Source edition
Leapor, Mrs. (Mary), 1722-1746. Poems upon several occasions: By Mrs. Leapor of Brackley in Northamptonshire. London: printed: and sold by J. Roberts, 1748, pp. 229-231. 15,[5],282p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T127827; Foxon p. 413; OTA K101776.000) (Page images digitized from a copy at University of California Libraries.)
Editorial principles
The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by Mary Leapor
- ADVICE to MYRTILLO. ()
- The APPARITION. ()
- The BEAUTIES of the SPRING. ()
- CATHARINA's CAVE. ()
- CELADON to MIRA. ()
- The CHARMS of ANTHONY. ()
- COLINETTA. ()
- The CRUCIFIXION and RESURRECTION. An ODE. ()
- The CRUEL PARENT. A DREAM. ()
- DAMON and STREPHON. A Pastoral Complaint. ()
- DAVID'S Complaint, ii Samuel, chap. 1. ()
- The DEATH of ABEL. ()
- DORINDA at her Glass. ()
- The ENQUIRY. ()
- An EPISTLE to a LADY. ()
- An EPITAPH. ()
- An EPITAPH. ()
- ESSAY on FRIENDSHIP. ()
- ESSAY on HAPPINESS. ()
- An ESSAY on HOPE. ()
- The FALL of LUCIA. ()
- The FIELDS of MELANCHOLY and CHEARFULNESS. ()
- FLORIMELIA, the First PASTORAL. ()
- FLORIMELIA, the Second PASTORAL. ()
- The FOX and the HEN. A FABLE. ()
- The FRIEND in Disgrace. A DIALOGUE. ()
- The GENIUS in DISGUISE. ()
- The HEAD-ACH. To AURELIA. ()
- An HYMN to the MORNING. ()
- The INSPIR'D QUILL. Occasion'd by a Present of CROW-PENS. ()
- JOB'S CURSE, and his APPEAL. Taken out of Job, Chap. i, and xxxi. ()
- The LIBYAN HUNTER, a FABLE. Inscrib'd to the Memory of a late admir'd Author. ()
- The LINNET and the GOLDFINCH. ()
- MIRA to OCTAVIA. ()
- MIRA's WILL. ()
- The MISTAKEN LOVER. ()
- The MONTH of AUGUST. ()
- The MORAL VISION. ()
- An ODE on MERCY: In Imitation of Part of the 145th Psalm. ()
- On DISCONTENT. To STELLA. ()
- On Mr. POPE's Universal PRAYER. ()
- On SICKNESS. ()
- On the Death of a justly admir'd AUTHOR. ()
- On WINTER. ()
- The PENITENT. Occasion'd by the Author's being asked if she would take Ten Pounds for her Poems. ()
- A PRAYER for the YEAR, 1745. ()
- The Proclamation of APOLLO. ()
- The PROPOSAL. ()
- PROSERPINE'S RAGOUT. ()
- The QUESTION. Occasion'd by a serious Admonition. ()
- A REQUEST to the DIVINE BEING. ()
- The RIVAL BROTHERS. ()
- The SACRIFICE. An EPISTLE to CELIA. ()
- The SETTING SUN. To SILVIA. ()
- SILVIA and the BEE. ()
- SONG to CLOE, playing on her Spinet. ()
- SOTO. A CHARACTER. ()
- The SOW and the PEACOCK. A FABLE. ()
- STEPHON to CELIA. A modern LOVE-LETTER. ()
- A SUMMER'S WISH. ()
- The TALE of CUSHI. From II. Samuel, Chap. xviii. ()
- The TEMPLE of LOVE. ()
- The TEN-PENNY NAIL. ()
- The Third Chapter of the Wisdom of SOLOMON. From the First to the Sixth Verse. ()
- To a Gentleman with a Manuscript Play. ()
- To ARTEMISIA. Dr. KING's Invitation to BELLVILL: Imitated. ()
- To GRAMMATICUS. ()
- The UNIVERSAL DREAM. ()
- The WAY of the WORLD. ()